African tower firm IHS raises $490 mln to fund expansion

DUBAI, March 3 (Reuters) - African phone tower group IHS hasraised $420 million in equity and $70 million in debt to fundits expansion across the continent, the company said in astatement on Monday.

Lagos-based IHS Group sold the equity to three new investors- Goldman Sachs, the IFC Global Infrastructure Fund, andAfrican Infrastructure Investment Managers - plus some toexisting shareholders. IHS did not provide further details.

The firm, which is close to delisting its Nigerian unit from the Lagos bourse, owns and manages about 10,500transmitter towers in Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast and hasbuilt a further 3,500 for telecommunications operators.

IHS also secured $70 million in senior debt from StandardChartered Bank and will use this money to expand itsoperations in Zambia. In December, IHS agreed to buy 1,200 towersites in Rwanda and Zambia from South Africa's MTN,with MTN become the anchor tenant on these towers for an initial10 years.

Telecommunications operators in Africa, which often strugglewith higher running costs and lower revenue per user than otherregions, try to reduce expenditure by pooling or selling theirtransmitter towers.

IHS will use the money it has raised "to financeacquisitions, help its customers expand coverage and capacity bybuilding new towers and continue investing in alternativeenergy", the company said in its statement.